The Court of Appeals in Dufy v. Dufy, addressed and analyzed to certain extent the enforceability of a Divorce Settlement Agreement and in particular the child support provision. Appellant there had challenged the trial court’s enforcement of the parties’ separation agreement as part of its Judgment of Absolute Divorce, and both the trial court as well as the appellate review established that the agreement was complete and unambiguous on its face, and that the parties had demonstrated an intention to be bound by it. Thus, the trial court had found that the agreement was an enforceable contract. Generally, courts encourage
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Archives for dc child support lawyer
DC CHILD SUPPORT & STATUTE OF LIMITATION
The Court of Appeals in Massey v. Massey, decided on June 20, 2019, highlighted statute of limitation on child support payments. Massey who owed over several thousand dollars of arrears in child support had petitioned the court for his support payment to be erased relying on the “Debt Statute of Limitations”. The Court of Appeal affirming the lower court decision ruled that essentially the debt of child support in arrears would be erased after the twelve year statutory period from the last payments due. Specifically, support payments constitute judgment debts as each installment becomes due and payable. As such, the
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ESTABLISHING PATERNITY: PRESUMPTIONS AND CHALLENGES TO PATERNITY
In order to either file or move to establish child custody or child support, first parentage has to be established. There are several ways in which the court can make a parentage determination as outlined below. Presumption of Paternity In the District, father-child paternity is presumptive under the following circumstances: If the putative father and the child’s mother are married, or in a domestic partnership either at the time of conception or birth, or between conception and birth, and the child is born during the marriage or domestic partnership. If prior to the birth of the child, the putative father
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CRIMINAL & CIVIL CONTEMPT IN DC: DC FAMILY LAWYER
The contempt powers of the court are divided into both criminal and civil contempt. Generally criminal contempt is reserved where there is willful and blatant violation of court order where as the civil contempt is reserved for non-compliance or neglect of a court order. In another word: Criminal contempt is a violation of the law, a public wrong which is punishable by fine or imprisonment or both. And the Civil contempt: is a sanction imposed by the court to enforce compliance with a court order or to compensate a party for losses or damages caused by noncompliance with a court
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IMPUTATION OF INCOME IN DIVORCE OR CHILD SUPPORT PROCEEDINGS: WASHINGTON DC DIVORCE LAWYER
Often times in divorce or child support proceedings the court may be forced to impute income on one of the parties. There are circumstances in which imputation of income is legally warranted. If there is a judicial finding that a party is: Voluntarily unemployed, Due to bad faith or Deliberate effort to suppress income, and To avoid child support or other financial obligations The pertinent D.C. Code § 16-916.01(d)(10) specifically provides: If the judicial officer finds that a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed as a result of the parent’s bad faith or deliberate effort to suppress income, to avoid or
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DE FACTO PARENT DEFINED; THIRD PARTY CHILD CUSTODY STATUTE: DC CHILD CUSTODY LAWYER
The third party custody statute in DC enables an initial filing or intervention by the third party in the ongoing proceeding under the following conditions: THIRD PARTY CUSTODY I. A parent who has provided primary care of the child for the past three years consents and supports the third party custody motion; or that: II. The third party has: Lived in the same household as the child for the past 4 out of the 6 months prior to the filing of the complaint; If the child is under 6 months, then for the half of the child’s life; and The
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CRIMINAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: DC FAMILY LAWYER
The Child Abuse and Neglect Statute in Washington DC has both a civil and also a criminal component and at times run on separate tracks but concurrently. If there is a referral for child abuse to the Child Protection Services (CPS), in cases of alleged physical child abuse — there will be a civil as well as criminal investigation when warranted. Thus charges may be brought in the Family Court as well as in the Criminal Court Systems. According to the DC Civil Neglect Statute, the term neglected child encompasses the following categories: 1) A child who has been abandoned
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WASHINGTON DC RETROACTIVE CHILD SUPPORT: RECENT CASE LAW & APPLICABLE STATUTES: DC CHILD SUPPORT LAWYER
District of Columbia Child Support Guidelines provides the right to the custodial parent to receive retroactive child support payments for a period of 24 months preceding the filing of the petition for child support. The Court of Appeals in Ford v. Snowden decided on September 22, 2016, addressed specifically the issue of whether a custodial parent receiving government benefit (“TANF”) was entitled to child support payments in addition and above the “TANF” amount. Specifically, Fashon Ford challenges the trial court’s order denying her the opportunity to seek child support from Snowden for the period of time during which Ms. Ford
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WASHINGTON DC PREMARITAL AGREEMENTS AND ENFORCEABILITY: DC DIVORCE LAWYER
Premarital agreements can be extensive and can include many provision, however below are some of the main issues that can be legally addressed and enforced through premarital agreements. DC Code § 46–503 provides specific statutory content for the premarital agreements: (1) The rights and obligations of each of the parties in any of the property of either or both of them whenever and wherever acquired or located; (2) The right to buy, sell, use, transfer, exchange, abandon, lease, consume, expend, assign, create a security interest in, mortgage, encumber, dispose of, or otherwise manage and control property; (3) The disposition of property upon separation,
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RECENT WASHINGTON DC COURT OF APPEALS DECISION: EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF MARITAL PROPERTY NOT NECESSARILY EQUITABLE: WASHINGTON DC DIVORCE LAWYER
The DC Court of Appeals on April 20, 2017, in Fleet v. Fleet; reversed and remanded the trial Judge’s ruling on division of marital property and award of portion of a retirement account. Mr. Fleet specifically on appeal challenged the court‘s distribution of a portion of the marital home and Mr. Fleet‘s retirement account to his ex-wife, appellee Ericka Fleet. He contended the trial court applied improper legal presumption of equal rather than equitable distribution of property in awarding 50 percent of the equity of the home to Ms. Fleet. Mr. Fleet also argued on appeal that the trial court did
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